After disappearing from public view for almost two weeks, President Rodrigo Duterte appeared on April 12 in his regular “Talk to the People” address, but made three inaccurate claims in his 20-minute opening remarks.
VERA Files Fact Check reviewed his claims and identified one false, one flip-flop, and another that needs context. Read on to know more about each claim:
On sounding an alarm against the COVID-19 threat
This was at least the second time on VERA Files Fact Check’s count that Duterte falsely said he immediately raised an alarm against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte says he’s been warning of ‘deadly’ COVID-19 from the beginning. Not quite.)
In two speeches in February 2020, Duterte framed the threat of COVID-19 as something that was neither alarming nor a cause for Filipinos to become “hysterical.”
In a Feb. 3, 2020 speech, three days after the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the first COVID-19 fatality in the country, which was also the first outside China, he said the virus would “just die a natural death … even without a vaccine,” similar to other contagions like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). (See VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Duterte says the new coronavirus is similar to HIV. Is that so?)
In another televised video message on Feb. 14, 2020, the president encouraged Filipinos to travel “with me” around the country and assured that “everything is safe” in terms of health, law and order, and accessibility. This came two days after the Tourism department estimated at least P42.9-billion loss in tourism revenue in case of a three-month ban for non-Filipino travellers heading to or from China and the territories of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
The Philippines recorded its first-ever case of COVID-19 on Jan. 30, 2020 involving a female traveller from Wuhan City, China — the origin of the first COVID-19 outbreak. Since then, various quarantine measures have been implemented sporadically in the country to stem the spread of the virus.
As of April 22, confirmed cases in the country have reached 971,049, of which 107,988 are active. Another 16,370 have died and 846,691 have recovered.
On getting the COVID-19 vaccine
Duterte has been changing his stance on when and whether he would receive a COVID-19 vaccine. From volunteering to be the first to get vaccinated in public to saying that he would be last, to deferring to his doctor’s advice last February, Duterte is now saying that he would “waive” his vaccine slot due to his age (76 years old). (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: The evolution of Duterte’s COVID-19 vaccination: From ‘first’ to ‘last’ to ‘not allowed’)
On Filipino citizens aged 70 and above being excluded from the COVID-19 vaccination priority list
Filipino citizens aged 60 and above are second in the government’s 12-tier list of priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination, next to the estimated 1.7 million frontline healthcare workers, the DOH list of priorities shows.
According to DOH, senior citizens are prioritized for vaccination because they face the “greatest risk of severe infection or deaths” due to COVID-19.
The vaccination of senior citizens, classified as A2, started in late March in some parts of the country, particularly in Metro Manila, after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) allowed simultaneous inoculation with other top priority groups, such as the healthcare workers (A1) and persons with comorbidities (A3).
Under the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program, only two of the seven vaccine brands are currently available — AstraZeneca and Sinovac. Of the two, only AstraZeneca vaccines were approved initially for use on senior citizens.
However, due to limited supply of AstraZeneca jabs and the need to inoculate the elderlies amid surging COVID-19 cases in the country, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and DOH allowed on April 7 the use of Sinovac vaccines, which was first approved only for persons 18 to 59 years old, on senior citizens,
Sources
RTVMalacanang, PRRD’s Meeting on COVID-19 Concerns and Talk to the People on COVID-19 4/12/2021, April 12, 2021
On sounding an alarm against the COVID-19 threat:
RTVMalacanang, Briefing on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus – Acute Respiratory Disease 2/3/2020, Feb. 3, 2020
Department of Tourism, President Duterte Invites Filipinos to Travel Around the Country, Feb. 14, 2020
Loss in tourism revenues due to COVID-19
- CNN Philippines, PH to lose ₱42.9 billion in tourism due to coronavirus travel ban, Feb. 12, 2020
- Rappler.com, Philippines seen to lose P42.9B in tourism revenues due to coronavirus, Feb. 12, 2020
- Inquirer.net, Coronavirus menace to cost PH tourism P42.9 B – DOT, Feb. 12, 2020
Department of Health, DOH CONFIRMS FIRST 2019-NCOV CASE IN THE COUNTRY; ASSURES PUBLIC OF INTENSIFIED CONTAINMENT MEASURES, Jan. 30, 2020
Department of Health, DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin #404, April 22, 2021
On getting the COVID-19 vaccine:
PTV, PANOORIN: Laging Handa Special Coverage | March 1, 2021, March 1, 2021
Presidential Communications Operations Office, Talk to the People of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19):
Presidential Communications Operations Office, Press Briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jan. 19, 2021
Presidential Communications Operations Office, Press Briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Feb. 15, 2021
Office of the Presidential Spokesperson, Press Briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Feb. 22, 2021
On Filipino citizens aged 70 and above being excluded from the COVID-19 vaccination priority list:
Department of Health, Where am I in the prioritization list?, April 16, 2021
Department of Health, 4. Who gets the vaccine first?, March 21, 2021
Department of Health, IATF Resolution No. 106
Metro Manila LGUs senior citizens vaccination starts
- Rappler.com, Metro Manila LGUs begin vaccinating elderly population vs COVID-19, March 29, 2021
- Inquirer.net, LIST: Schedule of COVID-19 vaccination for seniors, persons with comorbidities in NCR, March 29, 2021
- CNN Philippines, Metro Manila LGUs kick off vaccination of elderly vs. COVID-19, March 29, 2021
Food and Drugs Administration, Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for COVID-19 Vaccine (ChAdOx1- S[recombinant]) (COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca), Jan. 28, 2021
Food and Drugs Administration, Republic of the Philippines Department of Health FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION 22 February 2021 IP BIOTECH, INC. Emergency Use Au, Jan. 28, 2021
Department of Health, What is the required age for vaccination?, March 28, 2021
Department of Health, DOH, FDA GREEN-LIGHT CORONAVAC FOR SENIOR CITIZENS, April 7, 2021
Department of Health, Department Memorandum No. 2021-0175
Department of Health, Why do we need to have prioritization?, Accessed April 22, 2021
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
